


Started Out Helping

by ponchard



Series: They Are All Real - Stories of Minor NPCs [8]
Category: Dragon Age (Video Games), Dragon Age - All Media Types, Dragon Age II, Dragon Age: Inquisition
Genre: Archdemons, Blight, Canon Compliant, Canon-Typical Violence, Demons, Dwarves, Friendship, Gen, Here Lies the Abyss, Mages, Magisters, Old Gods, Post-Blight, Pre-Blight, Spirits, Taint - Freeform, Tevinter, Tevinter Imperium, The Black City, The Calling, The Deep Roads, The Fade, The Golden City, The Second Sin, Unreliable Narrator, is how I'll explain canon divergence if later games invalidate it
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-04-29
Updated: 2015-04-29
Packaged: 2018-03-26 09:00:33
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 787
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3845035
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ponchard/pseuds/ponchard
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Sit, sit, my friends. Drink your cups and finish them. Tear your bread and sop it dripping. Sit, sit, cross your legs beneath you. The cold south winds and the wet north winds have called for a tale, and who but I can tell it? Yes, let the cold winds rest. Let the wet winds listen. I will tell the tale of the solemn boy and his spirit-protector.</p><p>This is how it was.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Started Out Helping

Sit, sit, my friends. Drink your cups and finish them. Tear your bread and sop it dripping. Sit, sit, cross your legs beneath you. The cold south winds and the wet north winds have called for a tale, and who but I can tell it? Yes, let the cold winds rest. Let the wet winds listen. I will tell the tale of the solemn boy and his spirit-protector.

This is how it was. 

When the cities above and the cities below shouted with trade, there was a solemn boy. He wondered long and dreamed dreams, just as children do. But he wondered of the time before. Before the heavens were tidied. Before the altars were papered over with soft cloths. Before the gods slept. And when he dreamed, he dreamed of the spirit-protector.

"I am sad," said the boy. The spirit-protector turned its head. "I am sad that no one remembers how it was. I am sad that the gods will be angry at my friends, for forgetting." But he was not sad.

"What is this I see?" said the spirit-protector. "What is this that your sadness flows around?" And deep, deep, deep in the solemn boy, deeper than he could see, his sadness flowed around one thought. _There are none._ The spirit-protector pulled him tight and pulled a hand through his hair. "Shhhh, shhhh." And he felt better. "I will help them remember."

So the solemn boy taught and prayed. His friends turned, his people slipped away, but did his passion wane? No, no. The old gods were the real gods, and he knew it from his middle to his skin. And in his fervor, the voices came. The boy danced, hands and feet, to his spirit-protector.

"I am happy," said the boy. The spirit-protector turned its head. "I am happy that I have been chosen. I am happy that my faith has been rewarded." But he was not happy.

"What is this I see?" said the spirit-protector. "What is this that your happiness flows around?" And deep, deep, deep in the solemn boy, deeper than he could see, his happiness flowed around one thought. _Deceivers._ The spirit-protector pulled him tight and pulled a hand through his hair. "Shhhh, shhhh." And he felt better. "I will do as they say."

So the solemn boy followed the voices. He worked and built with the other worshipers, even as they dwindled. He cut doors in his arms for the Fade to pour through. But the heavens ran away from the solemn boy, laughing mockery. Did this turn him away? No, no. For this he was chosen, and he knew it from his middle to his skin. So he went to his spirit-protector for help.

"I am frustrated," said the boy. The spirit-protector turned its head. "I am frustrated that I don't have enough power. I am frustrated that the Fade shifts to block my paths." But he was not frustrated.

"What is this I see?" said the spirit-protector. "What is this that your frustration flows around?" And deep, deep, deep in the solemn boy, deeper than he could see, his frustration flowed around one thought. _What is waiting there?_ The spirit-protector pulled him tight and pulled a hand through his hair. "Shhhh, shhhh." And he felt better. "I will gather my slaves."

So he gathered his slaves, and pierced them on a great claw. The Fade poured through the door, solid, pinned down. And the solemn boy walked into the heavens. Did he hesitate? Did he waver? No, no. He had nothing to fear from the heavens, he knew this from his middle to his skin. Into the heavens he strode, confident... 

His spirit-protector felt his anguish. Yes, even his confusion. It watched him beat his fists, running for the door, walls all around. Oozing, pulsing immortality pursued him. 

Overtook him.

The spirit-protector sat still and waited. It knew the boy would surely come. The boy would come, and be soothed again. The spirit-protector knew, and its patience rippled over ages. Yes, and after ages, the solemn boy dreamed.

"I am angry," said the boy. The spirit-protector turned its head. "I am angry that the gods abandoned us. I am angry that there are none." But he was not angry.

"What is this I see?" said the spirit-protector. "What is this that your anger flows around?" And deep, deep, deep in the solemn boy, far deeper than he could see, his anger flowed around one thought. _I have ruined everything, for nothing._ The spirit-protector pulled him tight and pulled a hand over his head. "Shhhh, shhhh." And he felt better. "We will fill the void. We will give this world a god."

And that is how it was.

**Author's Note:**

> Rejected names for this tale:
> 
> _The_ Taking _Tree_
> 
> _Li'l Corypheus and the Case of the Confirmation Bias_
> 
> _Cory Sue_
> 
> Fun fact, I got the idea to do this because I wanted to do a Corypheus x Nightmare pairing. I, uh, wanted to play with the squick factor of them having the same voice. The veiled hand of Corypheus himself, huehuehue.
> 
> Luckily for... everyone... they turned out to be just friends. After mulling over the pairing, I really wanted to unpack their relationship in a (possibly) canon-friendly way. The Nightmare feeds on suppressed fears, and Corypheus is the **king** of suppressing his own fears. It seems plausible that the Nightmare started out helping Corypheus, but every time it "helped" by erasing his fears, it was removing another set of brakes on the Cory-train.


End file.
